At last the brakes work

Stewart (oily!) · Post by **Stewart (oily!)** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 7:09 pm

The whole time I have owned the latest BX special I have not really been happy with the braking, they have lacked feel and bite, the condition of the discs and pads is such that I ignored swapping them, anyway last week I used the car for some commuting and set out to get the brakes working hard, to that end I used no engine braking at all on a 50 mile commute, steaming up to roundabouts and piling them on, guess what?? after a couple of hundred miles they are getting better. prior to me owning it the car stood for a good few months, I suppose my initial miles cleaned the crap off the discs, transferring it onto the pads where it stayed and its taken some wear to get rid of it, not helped either by the fact that I am a gentle driver, trained to use the gears to slow down and conditioned to make everything last forever

a kind of italian decoke for the brakes.
Stewart

Oscar · Post by **Oscar** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 10:01 am

Picking up on the engine-braking point - I too use the gears and inclines to slow down, setting myself targets to get off the motorway and around the roundabout safely without using the gears. It's a kind of exercise in anticiaption and working with the car.

Oene question though - does engine braking have any implications for the clutch?

M · Post by M » Wed Nov 02, 2005 10:25 am

I have always been of the opinion that brakes are cheaper & easier to replace than a gearbox & clutch - so consequentially go through them like there is no tomorrow.

Stewart (oily!) · Post by **Stewart (oily!)** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 5:40 pm

I think its years of driving gently/economically/other peoples cars/other peoples cars with other peoples kids in them, I just like to make the whole thing last a long time, boy am I sad

Stewart

cauchoiskev · Post by **cauchoiskev** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 7:21 pm

Surely, if you don't use engine braking, i.e. you just stay in 5th and step on the brake pedal, you will not be in the right gear when you get down to the speed you want to be at. If you need to accelerate in an emergency, you will be in trouble...

M · Post by M » Wed Nov 02, 2005 10:26 pm

cauchoiskev wrote:Surely, if you don't use engine braking, i.e. you just stay in 5th and step on the brake pedal, you will not be in the right gear when you get down to the speed you want to be at. If you need to accelerate in an emergency, you will be in trouble...

Nope, I just use quick and judicious use of the clutch pedal and my left hand to select the appropriate gear as and when needed. I think it was when my Yamaha motorbikes gearbox went for a burton after a couple of years "engine / gear braking" that prompted me to use the brakes for what they were designed for.
I didnt say I dont use engine braking - I just dont tromp down the gears when braking and let them slow me down a bit.

cauchoiskev · Post by **cauchoiskev** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 11:26 am

He he, my last bike, a shaft-drive job, used to go through back tyres in 2500 miles, which probably had something to do with "tromping down the gears" as well. But that was 16 years ago.

I totally agree you shouldn't change down just to brake : engine braking is essentially a side-effect of being in the right gear.